Small Field for School Launch

[BlastoffDFW]

I have been invited to do a demo launch for "Rocket Day" at a local school. Their field is small, only about 400' x 300', with houses on all sides.

What rocket would you suggest to stay within the field but still be entertaining?

A few options I'm considering:

• Existing Estes Ascender adapted down to a C11. Has always flown dead straight on F15's, but not sure the C11 is safe. Need to mod it in OpenRocket.
• Build new Estes Protostar from my stock of kits. Looks killer. Light enough to fly on small engines.
• Custom build something big (high air resistance) but light (small engines)

 

[dhbarr]

c11 isn't what's wanted there, I believe it's the d12 you're after.

elliptical bt80 tubefin is my best answer for a dragwagon; technically a traditional design ( e.g. not a saucer or spool ) but like trying to throw a grocery sack.

 

[Lugnut56]

You might try the "Slo-Mo" from Apogee. It's designed to have a lot of drag for slow launches, and with canted fins, spins as it leaves the pad. I just launched mine a week ago with a C6-5, and according to the altimeter it only went 231'.

 

[BEC]

The Safety Code would limit you to B motors on a field that size. I'd be inclined to fly a Big Bertha on a B6-2 and maybe reef the 'chute some.

 

[Tbmx3]

Estes Shuttle Express on a B4-4 would be perfect for that size field.

 

[KennB]

Be sure to include a good starter rocket or two that would be more likely be a first kit for some of the kids. If they've never seen a launch before, an Alpha on and A8-3 can be impressive.

 

[Scott_650]

Estes Shuttle Express on a B motor is a pretty good choice for a field that size, couple of things to consider are you don’t get much of a glide from the parasite shuttles at the B motor apogee, more like “ falling with style” ( they do work as they should though) and you may want to add some bright orange with a Sharpie to the gliders - makes them easier to see in the air.

Estes Flip Flyer on a B works well on a small field - one of my personal go-to choices for demo launches.

Estes Big Bertha style rocket on a short delay B motor would also be a good choice. The relatively slow takeoff is pretty neat and you can watch the entire flight.

Estes Goblin on a B motor with an adapter would work too - streamer recovery brings it down nicely without much drift at B motor apogee.

 

[Zeus-cat]

You could consider a very high drag rocket like a Dare To Be Square from Newway Rockets. There are also various saucers that you could use. I always use a C6 in my Dare To Be Square and I would guess it hits 100 feet at best. It is low, slow and loud which kids love. It doesn't spit the motor either and it uses tumble recovery.

 

[BlastoffDFW]

Thanks everybody for the great suggestions!

Regarding NAR Model Rocket Safety Code, can anyone clarify what is meant by "open area"? I have 400' x 300' that is completely free of trees, but 400' x 400' if I ignore small trees on the edges.

I am trying to convince the school to let me hand out a bunch of E2X starter kits and let every kid launch a rocket.

 

[Bat-mite]

Trees are considered "open area" as long as you don't mind landing in them. Safety code is more concerned with occupied buildings. If you don't mind invalidating your insurance, then the safety code is less relevant to you than actually being able to recover your rockets.

 

[Scott_650]

Thanks everybody for the great suggestions!

Regarding NAR Model Rocket Safety Code, can anyone clarify what is meant by "open area"? I have 400' x 300' that is completely free of trees, but 400' x 400' if I ignore small trees on the edges.

I am trying to convince the school to let me hand out a bunch of E2X starter kits and let every kid launch a rocket.

Wow, that’s pretty awesome! I’ve done rocketry with groups of children, it’s a hoot and worthwhile - my one constant has been EVERYTHING takes longer than you think it will. How many students will there be, what age range, how many adults will be helping you (and how many know about rocketry?), how many launch positions will you have...

If you don’t have time for glue to dry (and using CA with young children isn’t worth the risk - one kid gets an eye full of superglue and they’re off to the ER!) I’d suggest the ModelRockets.us Nexus rocket - no glue construction but you still have to build all the usual parts of a LPR, flies around 250ft on an A8, streamer recovery and great customer service from the vendor.

https://www.discountrocketry.com/modelrocketsus-nexus-model-rocket-streamer-p-2338.html

 

[BEC]

That Nexus is a neat model! I haven't looked at modelrockets.us stuff in awhile so didn't know about this.

Agree with the comment that for folks who have never seen a model rocket fly an Alpha or Alpha III on an A8-3 can be impressive. That's a 200-250 foot high flight. Put a streamer in an Alpha III and a B6-4 and that could easily still fly in that field as long as the wind is light.

Cool idea trying to convince the school to let kids build and fly models. I absolutely agree with Scott_650 that CA is not worth the risk. It is possible to do an E2X model (Generic or Alpha III) in a little over an hour with of flow time (and only Alleene's Tacky Glue and no knives) if you rearrange the build and do a little prep work first (precut shock cord mounts, mark the motor tube and punch the motor tube slot, etc.)

But that Nexus is really intriguing. I'm going to have to get one to see what its like in person. There are some programs I've been associated with that would really benefit from a model like that.

 

[Zeus-cat]

I have helped with quite a few school build and flys. Lots of fun, but it can be like herding cats if you have a lot of kids during the build sessions. The launches are always easier to manage as flying rockets keeps kids focused. You need one adult/teen helper for every table of 5 or 6 kids. Or you need to be able to go one step at a time and then check that each kid is doing it correctly. No super glue, no epoxy, no X-acto knives.

eRockets sells the My Boid for $6.99, but on sale now for $5.99. These are 13mm rockets and are easy to build. The great thing is that they have many different nose cones and fin configurations. So if you order 20 kits they may all be different. Kids love that as their rocket is different than everyone else's, but they are all assembled the same.

 

[BlastoffDFW]

Thanks everybody for the suggestions.

We're planning to go with:

• Estes Generic E2X for the kids (about $6/ea in bulk and easy assembly for little kids)
• Build day weekend before, so all kits are ready to fly on launch day
• 2 x 3-rod pads from local NAR club
• A prep table, pad attendants, and RSO. Hoping to load 1 pad while launching the other.

With this, we're hoping to be able to launch 100+ rockets in a 2-hour launch.

 

[BEC]

100 flights in two hours will mean lots of hands to help prep models as well as actually run the range. Depending on who is supplying motors (which I expect will be A8-3s given the field size), pre-installing igniters and plugs the night before might also be helpful

Running the two sets of pads separately of course will mean having them be at least 15 feet apart and will make recovery (people being downrange while models are flying need to be far enough away AND aware) interesting.

We had 112 flights in 3 hours at our last club launch running 13 pads....but we ran them in groups of 13 - so it was fly (or try to fly) 13, then open the range for recovery of those while loading the next batch.

50 per hour (about one flight per minute) will be a challenge....but it's not impossible.

 

[Scott_650]

What did you decide on for the demo launches?